


Even when the dark comes crashing through//When you need a friend to carry you//And when you’re broken on the ground//You will be found....

by flickawhip



Series: WWE - WW2 stories [2]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - World War II, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 03:23:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15403875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flickawhip/pseuds/flickawhip
Summary: Mickie and Stephanie try to live...





	1. Have you ever felt like you could disappear?//Like you could fall, and no one would hear?

“Just leave me alone.”

The words are sharp, Mickie pulling away sharply, almost falling. She doesn’t need this, to be fussed over, she needs more, a home. 

“You aren’t helping....”

“Private...”

“My name’s Mickie. Learn it.”

She had been feeling trapped ever since Stephanie stopped visiting, lost and alone and hurting. She just wanted to go back to how she had been before war began, to be free to be herself. 

“Your arm...”

“GET OUT.”

 

“Leave me alone...”

Stephanie’s voice rose as her mother fussed around her, keeping her locked away for the ninth day. She was desperate now. She wanted to be free, she needed someone else, anyone, who wouldn’t keep thinking she should marry so fast. Someone who knew what it was to be hurting. 

“Mother. Stop.”

Stephanie had turned then, anger flashing through her. 

“GET OUT.”

Her mother had left then, leaving Stephanie to sink down the wall, sobbing weakly into her knees. 

“Dammit.”

The word was whispered, her eyes clouding again. She hadn’t just lost Ronda, a pain that still tore at her daily, but she knew Mickie would think she had forgotten her... or just didn’t care.


	2. Now and then I get insecure//From all the pain//I'm so ashamed...

A day had passed with both Stephanie and Mickie pacing their separate rooms, Mickie feeling abandoned, hated, confused. Haunted. Always haunted. Images of fallen friends and family crowding in to leave her shaken and embarrassed. She continued to push the nurses away. 

Stephanie had come to her the day after, pushing away all the voices and echoes. She had been Ronda’s once, Mickie knew that, but there was something so vital and alive about the girl she just couldn’t bring herself to care. 

“I’m sorry.... I.... I had to move out... My mother...”

“Let me guess, she wants you to move on...”

“How can I?”

The words were so soft, the pain bleeding through in every word, Stephanie’s bright blue eyes dancing with pain, fresh tears falling easily. Mickie was the one person she had ever let hear it. 

“Steph...”

Mickie’s voice broke off into a gasp of pain as she moved her wrist, her pain drawing a startled look from Stephanie, the other woman moving automatically to look her arm over, then speaking softly. 

“You need to have this cleaned...”

“No... No I... I can’t...”

“You’ll die... Mickie.... please.... let me... let me clean it?”

Stephanie had been training to become a VAD when Ronda died and now she moved, ignoring the protest from Mickie as she gathered the equipment, settling and pulling Mickie’s arm into her lap. 

“That hurts...”

Mickie’s voice is rough, angry even and Stephanie responds angrily. 

“Then let me fix it.”

Her grip is tight when Mickie makes to pull away, holding her arm still with one hand even as she cleaned the wounded arm, noting Mickie pale and look away, tears rolling down her cheeks, the light of her brown eyes clouding over with pain. 

Stephanie had worked fast, cleaning and binding the wound. Mickie had pulled away nearly instantly when Stephanie released her, crossing to the window, cradling her arm in front of her, hating herself for crying in front of the woman. 

“Mickie...”

“Don’t... don’t look at me...”

“Too late.”

Stephanie’s voice is soft, her hands coming to rest on Mickie’s shoulder and hip, forcing her to turn, one hand rising instantly to brush tears from Mickie’s cheeks, her thumb light over Mickie’s cheekbones. 

“Mickie...”

“Don’t... Steph you don’t.... you don’t want this...”

“I do. I do. I so want you.... I thought... I thought my life was over after... but you...”

“I’m a wreck McMahon, you have no idea how many nights I wake up screaming.... the... the memories...”

“Then make new ones.... with me.”

“I’m broken... I’m.... Dammit, Stephanie.... I’m a wreck. My arm will never heal right... I won’t be any use to you... I can’t be... I can’t be her...”

“Good. I don’t want another Ronda. What we had was... was fun... she was fun... but now? Now I just want a home... I want a wife.... I want.... I want to be something else other than someone’s pretty little princess... I want to be useful.”

“I’m not going to be some kind of comfort porn for you...”

“Mickie...”

“No Stephanie....”

“Mickie...”

“Go. Away.”

Stephanie had pulled away then, running from the room, knocking people aside, ignoring everyone’s calls to break free, not seeing what was coming until far too late. 

She had woken to a cold, dark, room.... and pain.


	3. 'Cause I made myself a prisoner//Shackled up by all my fears//But I feel you breaking away all the walls//Make them fall, make them all disappear...

“Steph....”

“She can’t see you....”

“STEPH...”

The sound of Mickie all but beating on her room’s door had driven Stephanie to rise, feeling her way to the doors blindly, the cotton padding stopping her from seeing even as she felt her way to the door, fumbling pathetically until she could open the door, falling through into the corridor and to her knees, hearing the nurses fuss and not caring, reaching blindly out. 

“Mickie...”

“Steph...”

Arms around her waist helped her stand, the warmth of Mickie leading her to bed making her less reluctant to go, nimble, warm, fingers pulling at her bandages until they fell away, showing the marks on her face where she had met the pavement, thrown clear of the car’s path by a last-minute shove from someone she hadn’t seen, her eyes closing briefly as light flooded them again.

“Private James...”

“Leave us.”

Stephanie had all but barked the order, pulling Mickie closer with a grip at her waist, kissing her despite the nurses still being there, noting the soft sigh as she did so, finally, finally claiming the woman she had fallen for, her eyes closing again at the feel of Mickie cupping her face, gentle fingers brushing over the tiny scars at her cheekbone. 

“Steph... I thought.... I thought I’d killed you... when they said you’d run into the road...”

“I just.... had to get away I thought....”

“I pushed you away...”

“I could have fought harder...”

“I’m glad you didn’t....”

Mickie murmured, letting her forehead rest against Stephanie’s lightly, her smile slightly shy. 

“I’m a stubborn idiot....”

“My stubborn idiot, I hope?”

“After what you just did? I should say no... but I don’t want you running under any more cars... so yes... yes I am.... if you still want me?”

“I do.”

Stephanie had smiled slightly. 

“Just so we’re clear.... I want you, Mickie James, not a project, not a wounded soldier to fuss over, not someone to make me feel less alone... Yes, I want to be useful, but I want to be a wife, someone who can help you when you need it... and who can lean on you when I need to...”

“Then... I have only one question....”

Mickie had paused, smiling softly.

“Will you marry me, Stephanie McMahon?”

“Yes.”

Stephanie had smiled, kissing Mickie again quickly. 

“But I want a house on base... I want to be near Natalya, and Charlotte... and the other army wives...”

“You read my mind....”

“Shame I didn’t do that sooner... for both our sakes.”

Stephanie teased, moving to kiss Mickie again, her voice soft. 

“I really do love you, Mickie James...”

“Good, because I’ve been in love with you since the moment you insisted on staying with me... even when the nurses tried to get you a simpler patient...”

“All this time?”

“Yes...”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to.... ruin things with you and...”

“She was leaving me if she came back... we both knew it...”

“You still mourned...”

“She was... we never had a chance to say goodbye... properly...”

“But...”

“I had closure... that’s why I... why I didn’t come for a few days...”

“I thought you’d forgotten me... or moved on...”

“Never. Never could have happened. I was falling for you from the moment we met.... Ronda just... pushed us together faster than I expected was possible... and you.... the second you let me cry and didn’t judge...”

“You needed someone to care...”

“Well, now it’s my turn.... to care... and to chase away all those painful thoughts. They can’t have you any more... because you’re mine...”


End file.
